(I started this before I left but I figured I would leave the beginning, even though I am no longer there :( )
Ciao Ciao mi Amici! I am currently giving myself a break from my papers that I haven't worked on in a few days to give more updates. I am rather behind but I hope to have everything done by the time I go home. IN 16 DAYS. It's so strange to think about that. I haven't seen my dog in 4 and a half months. Not to mention my car. Which I have tried not to think about sine Anne is learning to drive. Yobs. I'm sure shes doing great. In the van. Nonetheless, a couple weeks ago, I went on a class trip to Palermo Sicily to learn about the Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia!
So we took the most absurd flight there. The landing strip of the Palermo airport is on the edge of the island and it was the rockiest most turbulent descent EVER. like not fun in the slightest. fortunately we all landed in one piece and the 26 of us plus 4 teachers got on the bus that took us to Palermo itself. On our way into Palermo, we drove past the place where Giovanni Falcone and 4 other people were blown up.
The Sicilian Mafia is one of the most famous mafias that almost everyone knows of. And everyone knows of Corleone because of the Godfather, which is based off of this mafia family. So at the height of its power, under Salvatore 'Toto' Riina, people were being killed in the streets and no one was willing to stand up to them because they were going to be killed, like everyone else. People were forced to pay the 'pizzo' which is extortion money. If you asked these people they would say that the mafia wasn't real. There were 2 men that were willing to stand up to the Cosa Nostra, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. They were 2 judges that were able to put 474 mafia on trial starting in 1986. This included Toto Riina, among others who were tried in absentia because they were on the run. Anyway, thanks to Tommaso Buscetta, a former mafia, 360 were charged. Riina had ordered the 2 judges to be murdered and both of them were blown up in car bombs and he was then found guilty and is still sitting in jail today. Another mafioso stepped up from second in command and then led the mafia in a Pax Mafiosi campaign, or the peaceful mafia, his name was Provenzano. He was recently arrested and now also sits in jail. He was so good at hiding that he hadnt been seen since he was a young man and the only way that they found him was because he insisted that his wife did his laundry, so the police were able to track him down following his bag of laundry. Current day, the mafia is still a strong presence in Palermo adn Sicily though not as a obvious as they were. We spent alot of time learning about the same sorta things but it was pretty cool. (I actually ended up writing a paper comparing the Cosa Nostra to the Death Eaters of Harry Potter. I got a 96 on it. Let me know if you want to read it hahah :) ). The La Cosa Nostra of the U.S. is not the exact same but they are related. They are the ones that came to America in the late 1800's and late 1900's. They were the connections to Sicily during prohibition and theres suspicion that they were used contact their family in the WWII to make it an easy landing for the allies to take Italy from the Germans (Mussolini had a strong campaign against the mafias because they provided an alternate form of protection and threatened unity throughout Italy). There's a whole lot I could talk about with this but I'll move on.
When we got into Palermo we went to this place for lunch that has publicly stated that they do not pay the pizzo and stand up against the mafia. It was actually really freaking good. We had these little appetizers and one of them was this like patty kinda thing i guess but it looked like a egg thing that you get on your McDonalds breakfast sandwich. You know flat, thin, yellow. Well this was mashed chick peas with tons of spices and salt. Phenom. On my list of things to try and learn to make. After we had Pasta alla Norma, which is a red sauce with ricotta over pasta with cooked eggplant. it was so so so good. (I'm making it for dinner tonight, I found a recipe online so I can only hope its as good.) After lunch we were given a presentation from Libera, which is the anti-mafia organization that was hosting our trip basically. They work with the government to help and support people who no longer want to pay the mafia. They also take land and buildings that have been confiscated from arrested mafia. Pretty legit.
After we finished lunch we went to one of their main buildings near by, with a quick interlude to get a cannolo. Soo good. I didn't really cannolis before but when in Rome (Palermo). Cannolo is the singular version, cannoli is multiple. I only had one at this time. So we went to Libera, 2 doors over and it used to be a headquarters for the Cosa Nostra and was a men's dress shop as the front. The mafia use different businesess as fronts for laundering money and places to meet. We talked with one of the Libera members and she kinda just told us stuff that we had been told before (before we left we had a 3 hour presentation by 2 of the teachers and a class in our culture class about all the mafias of Italy, but she focused more on the other ones). At this point, at the end it was time to head back but not before we walked around a little adn then got stranded waiting for the bus in a massive rain storm. like freak down pour. Whatever. It was funny. We went to our hostile and had dinner there because dinner was included in our stay. It wasn't good. It was the same pasta that we had at lunch but worse. And then some like chicken fried steak or something. Not good we weren't allowed to order our own meals. Boo.
Later that night everyone that was there, including 2 of the teachers, went out to the balcony off one of the rooms and we had a little group party it was super fun. Massive bonding.
The next morning we met with a prosecutor in Palermo who has taken the lead against the Cosa Nostra. We sat on top of I guess the equivalent of the district court building which had the most amazing view of Palermo:
Pretty wild. There was also this amazing view of Palermo behind the church. You could see the shore and everything. I also had a pretty good cannolo, though the first one was still the best.
We got lucky that it didn't rain that much when we were up there, just kinda on and off. Afterwards they said that they were going to take us to the "best gelato in Sicily, which means the best gelato in Italy". Sicilian gelato is supposed to be the best gelato in Italy. My favorite gelato in Rome is a Sicilian place called CuriCuri. It is to DIE for. I prefer it over Giolitti's which is also supposed to be the best gelato in Rome. However. I like CuriCuri. I always get the cannolo and tiramisu. Anyway, this place that they were taking us was supposed to be the best in Sicily, and I was highly disappointed. I think we all were. Boo. Fail. we walked across the street to this big park and there were big rocks that were in the water that you could climb on. The closest we got to a beach in Sicily. Upsetting. I was really pulling for a nice beach experience. We hung out for a little and then a few of us walked home with the teachers which we thought was going to be like a 15 min walk. Well it wasnt. I think all in all it was a little over an hour. Which was fine I guess; they showed us the neighborhood where Falcone e Borsellino were born and grew up together. We went to a market that had fresh fruit and seafood and they got us strawberries and these little orange things. we had to peel the skin off and it was alot of work for not alot of fruit adn they left your mouth feeling dry. they were strange. I stuck to the strawbs. Our dinner was really not that good again and we were all so tired from excessive bonding and walking so much that everyone went to bed pretty early.
Our last day, Sunday we got on our bus again but this time to go to Corleone! It is a real place and it was super cute. It's small little town up on the side of one of the many mountains and the views were so pretty the whole drive. We went to a building and met with this guy that told us even more about Toto Riina and more details about the level of corruption and death that happened because of him. He showed us pictures after people were killed in the streets and of key players on both sides. It was really interesting. This is where I was inspired to write my paper relating them to the Death Eaters :). Riina's sons actually still live in Corleone but are productive members of society, not like their dad. We walked around the town a little bit before we got back on the bus adn drove for about 10 min before we literally stopped on the side of the road. There was a little house that was down in the valley which is where we were going to have lunch. Its owned by Libera and it used to be Toto Riina's safe house. Like there were people that were tortured there. And we ate lunch there. Like wildddddddd.
Fortunately we did not get lost on the way to airport and we made it there in plenty of time to get on our flight. I learned alot about the mafia which is really the only reason I wanted to go but true to italian organization, there was none.... Whatever. I went to Sicily. Livin the Dream. one weekend at a time.
Ciao Ciao mi Amici! I am currently giving myself a break from my papers that I haven't worked on in a few days to give more updates. I am rather behind but I hope to have everything done by the time I go home. IN 16 DAYS. It's so strange to think about that. I haven't seen my dog in 4 and a half months. Not to mention my car. Which I have tried not to think about sine Anne is learning to drive. Yobs. I'm sure shes doing great. In the van. Nonetheless, a couple weeks ago, I went on a class trip to Palermo Sicily to learn about the Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia!
So we took the most absurd flight there. The landing strip of the Palermo airport is on the edge of the island and it was the rockiest most turbulent descent EVER. like not fun in the slightest. fortunately we all landed in one piece and the 26 of us plus 4 teachers got on the bus that took us to Palermo itself. On our way into Palermo, we drove past the place where Giovanni Falcone and 4 other people were blown up.
The Sicilian Mafia is one of the most famous mafias that almost everyone knows of. And everyone knows of Corleone because of the Godfather, which is based off of this mafia family. So at the height of its power, under Salvatore 'Toto' Riina, people were being killed in the streets and no one was willing to stand up to them because they were going to be killed, like everyone else. People were forced to pay the 'pizzo' which is extortion money. If you asked these people they would say that the mafia wasn't real. There were 2 men that were willing to stand up to the Cosa Nostra, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. They were 2 judges that were able to put 474 mafia on trial starting in 1986. This included Toto Riina, among others who were tried in absentia because they were on the run. Anyway, thanks to Tommaso Buscetta, a former mafia, 360 were charged. Riina had ordered the 2 judges to be murdered and both of them were blown up in car bombs and he was then found guilty and is still sitting in jail today. Another mafioso stepped up from second in command and then led the mafia in a Pax Mafiosi campaign, or the peaceful mafia, his name was Provenzano. He was recently arrested and now also sits in jail. He was so good at hiding that he hadnt been seen since he was a young man and the only way that they found him was because he insisted that his wife did his laundry, so the police were able to track him down following his bag of laundry. Current day, the mafia is still a strong presence in Palermo adn Sicily though not as a obvious as they were. We spent alot of time learning about the same sorta things but it was pretty cool. (I actually ended up writing a paper comparing the Cosa Nostra to the Death Eaters of Harry Potter. I got a 96 on it. Let me know if you want to read it hahah :) ). The La Cosa Nostra of the U.S. is not the exact same but they are related. They are the ones that came to America in the late 1800's and late 1900's. They were the connections to Sicily during prohibition and theres suspicion that they were used contact their family in the WWII to make it an easy landing for the allies to take Italy from the Germans (Mussolini had a strong campaign against the mafias because they provided an alternate form of protection and threatened unity throughout Italy). There's a whole lot I could talk about with this but I'll move on.
When we got into Palermo we went to this place for lunch that has publicly stated that they do not pay the pizzo and stand up against the mafia. It was actually really freaking good. We had these little appetizers and one of them was this like patty kinda thing i guess but it looked like a egg thing that you get on your McDonalds breakfast sandwich. You know flat, thin, yellow. Well this was mashed chick peas with tons of spices and salt. Phenom. On my list of things to try and learn to make. After we had Pasta alla Norma, which is a red sauce with ricotta over pasta with cooked eggplant. it was so so so good. (I'm making it for dinner tonight, I found a recipe online so I can only hope its as good.) After lunch we were given a presentation from Libera, which is the anti-mafia organization that was hosting our trip basically. They work with the government to help and support people who no longer want to pay the mafia. They also take land and buildings that have been confiscated from arrested mafia. Pretty legit.
After we finished lunch we went to one of their main buildings near by, with a quick interlude to get a cannolo. Soo good. I didn't really cannolis before but when in Rome (Palermo). Cannolo is the singular version, cannoli is multiple. I only had one at this time. So we went to Libera, 2 doors over and it used to be a headquarters for the Cosa Nostra and was a men's dress shop as the front. The mafia use different businesess as fronts for laundering money and places to meet. We talked with one of the Libera members and she kinda just told us stuff that we had been told before (before we left we had a 3 hour presentation by 2 of the teachers and a class in our culture class about all the mafias of Italy, but she focused more on the other ones). At this point, at the end it was time to head back but not before we walked around a little adn then got stranded waiting for the bus in a massive rain storm. like freak down pour. Whatever. It was funny. We went to our hostile and had dinner there because dinner was included in our stay. It wasn't good. It was the same pasta that we had at lunch but worse. And then some like chicken fried steak or something. Not good we weren't allowed to order our own meals. Boo.
Later that night everyone that was there, including 2 of the teachers, went out to the balcony off one of the rooms and we had a little group party it was super fun. Massive bonding.
The next morning we met with a prosecutor in Palermo who has taken the lead against the Cosa Nostra. We sat on top of I guess the equivalent of the district court building which had the most amazing view of Palermo:
This is the prosecutor. I don't remember his name.
I dont know how long we sat up there but I think listening to him was the most interesting part of the trip. He was clearly really passionate about what he does. Hes done some really good things recently too; apparently he was a part of the group that busted this drug ring about 2 blocks from the courthouse. They figured it out because the guys would use an email account but never send the emails just save them in the draft box. interesting.
After lunch we went up the mountain-side to this town called Monreale. It was so pretty! We went in this church and after the ones in Ravenna, they were the most beautiful mosaics I've seen. These were all gold unlike the ones in Ravenna, which were blue and green.
Palermo!
Me and Francesca!
Palermo is behind us on the left but you can't see it, just fyi.
We got lucky that it didn't rain that much when we were up there, just kinda on and off. Afterwards they said that they were going to take us to the "best gelato in Sicily, which means the best gelato in Italy". Sicilian gelato is supposed to be the best gelato in Italy. My favorite gelato in Rome is a Sicilian place called CuriCuri. It is to DIE for. I prefer it over Giolitti's which is also supposed to be the best gelato in Rome. However. I like CuriCuri. I always get the cannolo and tiramisu. Anyway, this place that they were taking us was supposed to be the best in Sicily, and I was highly disappointed. I think we all were. Boo. Fail. we walked across the street to this big park and there were big rocks that were in the water that you could climb on. The closest we got to a beach in Sicily. Upsetting. I was really pulling for a nice beach experience. We hung out for a little and then a few of us walked home with the teachers which we thought was going to be like a 15 min walk. Well it wasnt. I think all in all it was a little over an hour. Which was fine I guess; they showed us the neighborhood where Falcone e Borsellino were born and grew up together. We went to a market that had fresh fruit and seafood and they got us strawberries and these little orange things. we had to peel the skin off and it was alot of work for not alot of fruit adn they left your mouth feeling dry. they were strange. I stuck to the strawbs. Our dinner was really not that good again and we were all so tired from excessive bonding and walking so much that everyone went to bed pretty early.
On our way to Corleone!
Our last day, Sunday we got on our bus again but this time to go to Corleone! It is a real place and it was super cute. It's small little town up on the side of one of the many mountains and the views were so pretty the whole drive. We went to a building and met with this guy that told us even more about Toto Riina and more details about the level of corruption and death that happened because of him. He showed us pictures after people were killed in the streets and of key players on both sides. It was really interesting. This is where I was inspired to write my paper relating them to the Death Eaters :). Riina's sons actually still live in Corleone but are productive members of society, not like their dad. We walked around the town a little bit before we got back on the bus adn drove for about 10 min before we literally stopped on the side of the road. There was a little house that was down in the valley which is where we were going to have lunch. Its owned by Libera and it used to be Toto Riina's safe house. Like there were people that were tortured there. And we ate lunch there. Like wildddddddd.
Corleone
That little house on the left of the picture that's where we ate. It was a little bit of a walk...
This is about 2/3 of the way down...
Lunch was phenomenal. It was the same pasta alla norma but there were great things including the chick pea thing for apertivos and it was just all so good. They gave us red wine with lunch and it was so so good. we all took a bunch of pictures afterwards as a chance to let the massive lunch settle before we hiked back up to the top. It was quite a walk thats for sure. I liked walking down the best.
Fran over looking her motherland
We were suppose to go to 2 different wine tastings after wards before we got on the plane to go back to Rome. However. I fell asleep and we were apparently lost for about 45 min while the bus driver drove in circles. We made it to one of the vineyards which was also on confiscated land from another mafia person. They used to produce wine at the vineyard and they just kept doing so when it was confiscated. We didnt even get to taste any of the wine. Boo again.Fortunately we did not get lost on the way to airport and we made it there in plenty of time to get on our flight. I learned alot about the mafia which is really the only reason I wanted to go but true to italian organization, there was none.... Whatever. I went to Sicily. Livin the Dream. one weekend at a time.
